Folding display racks



Sept. 18, 1962 A. LOVELLA FOLDING DISPLAY RACKS Filed June 50, 1959 LORETTA ANN LOVELLA INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

BLAIR, SPENCER 8 BUCKLES aired States Patent 3,054,508 FOLDING DISPLAY RACKS Loretta Ann Lovella, Stamford, Conn., assignor to Stamford Wall Paper (10., Inc., Stamford, Conn. Filed June 30, 1959, Ser. No. 823,927 2 Claims. (Cl. 211-45) This invention relates to folding racks for displaying merchandise, placards, charts and the like and more particularly to collapsible folding racks for supporting and displaying books and bound or unbound serial collections of charts, wall paper samples, textile fabrics or like sheet materials.

Easels and display stands heretofore available have been bulky, cumbersome and inconvenient. Such devices have presented many difiiculties in manufacture, shipping, storage, setting up and moving, and such devices have generally proved unsuitable for vertical or inclined display of collections of large sheet material such as books of charts or wallpaper samples, stacks of textile fabric samples, and the like.

Accordingly, the principal object of the invention is to provide display racks for sheet materials which are convenient and economical to manufacture, store and transport.

Another object of the invention is provide display racks of the above character which are conveniently foldable and easily set up for use.

A further object of the invention is to provide display racks of the above character capable of supporting and displaying heavy collections of sheet materials, charts, diagrams, textiles, wallpaper samples, or the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide display racks of the above character for convenient removal of certain sheets or groups of sheets in such a collection, and the substitution of new sheets therefor in serial relationship without disturbing the remaining collection of sheets.

A further object of the invention is to provide display racks of the above character afiording revolving support for such collections of sheets of material, for convenient display of each sheet in such collection.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a display rack demonstrating one embodiment of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of such a display rack bearing a bound collection of sheet material in display relationship thereon;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary Vertical sectional view of a portion of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 showing the clamping mechamsm;

FIGURE '4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a revolving clamping mechanism employed in another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 4 in its unclamped position; and

FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional view of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 4 in its clamped position.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

In the form of the invention shown in FIGURE 1 it will be seen that the device includes a main frame generally indicated at 10 and a rear frame generally indicated at 12 pivotally connected to the main frame by such means as the bolts 14 and maintained in spaced angular relationship thereto by the braces 16. In this form of the invention the main frame 10 includes side members 18, a base member 20 and a top member 22 joined in a rectangular configuration, with cross bars 24 at spaced intervals joining the two side members 18 to each other and contributing structural rigidity to the device. The rear frame 12, which is generally U-shaped in configuration, includes side members 26 joined by a transverse lower member 28 and also by a transverse cross bar 3% spaced therefrom.

Braces 16 are pivotally joined to the side members 18 of the main frame It by bolts 32, allowing these side braces to fold fiat within the main frame, and to be lowered into engagement with rear frame 12 to support the structure in a sturdy and rigid set up condition. The free ends of braces 16 are preferably provided with notches 34- for engagement with cross bar 30 of real frame 12.

In FIGURE 3 there is shown a preferred arrangement for joining a collection of large individual sheets to top member 22 for display purposes. The segments 18, 20 and 22 of the main frame 10 are preferably made from continuous tubular stock, such as aluminum tubing, and the tubular member 22 has apertures 36 extending therethrough accommodating bolts 38. Bolts 38 extend through apertures 40 formed in a series of individual sheets indicated at 42. The bolts 38 also pass through a backboard 44, washers 46, the apertures 36 in tubular member 22, and washers 48, to be held in position by wing nuts 50. Accordingly, the sheets forming the collection 42 may be maps, charts, wallpaper samples, textile samples, or the like, held in position and joined to the frame member 22 by bolts 38. Successive sheets may be folded back to display each sheet in turn, as shown in FIGURE 2.

A modified embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6. In this embodiment, a revolving sheet supporting assembly generally indicated at 52 is employed to clamp the individual sheets or groups of sheets 66 forming the collection 42 in display position on the racks of the present invention. The revolving sheet supporting assembly 52 performs the important function of minimizing the size of the upwardly projecting roll of back-folded sheets 54 shown in FIGURE 2. As seen in FIGURE 5, revolving assembly 52 includes a generally semi-cylindrical base portion 56 and a series of wedge-shaped clamping members 58. In their clamped position, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 6, the clamping members 58 are held in an arcuate configuration in cooperation with the semi-cylindrical base portion 56, completing the cylinndrical form of rotating assembly 52. Clamping members 58 are clamped in this position by a clamping ring 60, secured in position around them by a bolt 62 and wing nut 64. Thus the members 58 clamp between themselves groups of sheets 66 which together form the sheet collection 42.

The semi-cylindrical member 56 is provided with cylindrical end shoulders 68 provided with a projecting stud 70 dimensioned for insertion within the open end of a short hollow supporting member or socket 22a. In this embodiment of the invention the cross member 22 shown in FIGURE 1 is replaced by these two short hollow supporting members or sockets 22a at each side of the upper end of main frame 10, as shown in FIGURE 5, between which clamping member 52 is pivotally positioned as shown in FIGURE 4.

When wing nut 64 is removed, releasing the clamping ring 60, this ring'may be moved axially to shoulder 68 as shown in FIGURE and the Wedge-shaped clamping members 58 may then be radially displaced to the positions shown in FIGURE 5 for removal of the groups of sheets 66 and the substitution of one or more new groups of sheets. When the desired collection of sheets is in position between the radially converged clamping members 58, the clamping rings 60 may be returned :to the position shown in FIGURE 4 to hold the sheets in position as shown.

With the clamping mechanism shown in FIGURE 3, partial removal of portions of collections 42 is convenient- 1y accomplished by leaving one bolt 38 temporarily in position While removing and substituting the desired sheets with apertures 40 in registration for loose engagement with another bolt 38, and then completing the substitu tion for the first bolt 38,

The frames and 12 may be fabricated of lightweight metal members, such as a length of aluminum tubing, and the display racks of the present invention thus oifer the important advantages of extremely light weight, combined with great convenience in folding, storing, unfolding and setting upin a desired location for display purposes. The diiferent securing mechanisms shown in FIG- URES 3 through 6 afford convenient means for mounting and removing collections of sheet material for display as shown in FIGURE 2, and for the partial removal and substitution of parts of such collections of sheet material when the entire collection need not be changed. The revolving clamping mechanism shown in FIGURES 4 through 6 provides the additional advantages of convenient display of multi-sheet collections of display items while avoiding a bulky upwardly projecting roll 54 of folded back sheets as shown in FIGURE 2.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are eificiently attained and, since certain'changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

-I claim:

1. A folding display rack for a collection of sheet material comprising in combination a main frame including two substantially upright side members; a rear frame havingtwo upwardly projecting members pivotally joined to said main frame side members; positioning braces pivotally joined to said main frame side members and adapted for engagement with said rear frame, and a sheet supporting means for sheet material rotatably supported by the upper ends of said main frame side members.

2. A folding display rack for a collection of sheet material comprising in combination a main frame including two side members and a plurality of transverse members joining said side members and holding them in spaced relationship; a rear frame having two upwardly projecting members pivotally joined to said main frame side members; positioning braces pivotally joined to said main frame side members and adapted for removable engagement with said rear frame; a sheet supporting assembly including a plurality of radially withdrawable wedgeashaped members adapted to be clamped in radially converged relationship gripping said sheet material, clamping means around said wedge-shaped members, and a pair of socket members mounted at the upper ends of said main frame side members and disposed in facing relationship rotatably supporting said sheet supporting assembly therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 674,069 Snively May 14, 1901 770,589 K011 Sept. 20, 1904 1,021,976 Ferry Apr. 2, 1912 1,086,746 Babbitt Feb. 10, 1914 1,276,161 Beard Aug. 20, 1918 1,850,647 Whitcomb Mar. 22, 1932 2,334,785 Mitchell Nov. 23, 1943 2,526,376 London Oct. 17, 1950 2,764,381 Anderson Sept. 25, 1956 2,880,879 Best Apr. 7, 1959 

